“An ally of Jeremy Corbyn has accused the veteran Labour MP Frank Field of ’making grotesque slurs’ after he resigned the whip necause of the party’s stance on anti-semitism. In a local newspaper article published this morning, Mr Field urges the Labour leadership to end what he calls ’its racist tolerance of anti-semitism’, and expel local activists who intimidate other members.”
“Frank Field has said he might step down and trigger a bye-election.”

this morning (friday 31st), 12.00-12.06am, on bbc radio 4midnight news leads with …

“One of Labour’s longest-serving MPs, Frank Field, has resigned from the parliamentary party, warning that Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership has become ’a force for anti-semitism’. The party’s deputy leader said the resignations should serve as a major wake-up call.”

“A ’force for anti-semitism in British politics’ – Frank Field blames Jeremy Corbyn for presiding over a culture of bullying and racism as he quits the Labour whip after 40 years as the Birkenhead MP. Is this the voice of a man who’s long struggled to find his own footing in the Labour Party, or a wake-up call to more MPs who feel the same?”

this evening (thursday 30th), 5.21-5.29pm, 6.01-6.04pm, 10.01-10.02pm, and 10.07-10.17pm, on bbc radio 4pm (presented by simon jack), six o’clock news, and the world tonight (presented by james coomarasamy), lead with …

“One of Labour’s most senior and long-serving MPs, Frank Field, has resigned from the Parliamentary party, saying its leadership has become a force for anti-semitism. In a scathing resignation letter, Mr Field, a former minister in Tony Blair’s government, accused Jeremy Corbyn of overseeing an erosion of the party’s key values. He said there was now a culture of intolerance nastiness and intimidation in Labour.”

this afternoon (thursday 30th), 2.07-2.18pm, on bbc world service radionewshour (presented by julian marshall) leads with …

“Jordan FM: UNRWA Cuts Could Threaten Middle East Peace. Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi has warned that cuts to the funding of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, could be ’extremely destabilising’. He was reacting to reports that the United States had decided to cut all funding it gives to UNRWA. The US had already announced a big reduction of contributions earlier this year.”

“An Israeli court has ruled for the first time that a settlement built on private Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank is legal. The settlers argued they had been allocated the land by the Israeli government in good faith, but Palestinian officials called for the judgment to be nullified.”

“A group representing Jewish communities has written to the Labour Party urging it to take essential steps to address the row over anti-semitism. The letter, from the Board of Deputies of British Jews, is a reply to one from the party outlining what it is doing to deal with the issue.“